The Phillies open the weekend series with the St. Louis Cardinals, who just acquired Matt Holliday. Holliday will be in the lineup batting cleanup tonight. It should be a very close series as both these teams lead their divisions.

There is a very confident feeling with J.A Happ on the mound. Happ has one career start against the Cardinals. He pitched 6.1 innings and allowed two earned runs on five hits and four walks.

Both pitchers, Happ and Joel Pineiro, do not tally many strikeouts, but have had very successful seasons by relying on their defense. In three career starts against the Phillies, Pineiro is 1-0 with a 2.33 ERA.

The entire Phillies Nation staff will be in attendence, hopefully to witness yet another Phillies victory.

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Frank

July 24, 2009 at 6:06 pm

mlbrumors.com (via ed price of aol fanhouse) says the jays are considering a deal that would send michael taylor lou marson jason donald and kyle drabek to the jays for halladay. this is a no brainer fot the phils…..great deal if this is what it ends up being.

that’s a hell of a lot to give up for a guy you’re getting for a year and a half. maybe if you were sure that he’d sign an extension, but straight up four of the top 6 prospects in the system for a year and a half is kinda nuts. especially drabek. if you made that donald, marson, taylor and kendrick, i wouldn’t mind, except it throws my hometown ironpigs back to the dregs.

Yuengling is an excellent lager no doubt. Secondly, Marson is not the catcher of the future. Travis D. is. I am not in love with the proposed deal but I am ok with it. It has always been either Drabek or Happ in the deal for Halladay. Happ we know, Drabek could be great, could be a but. We don’t know, and neither do the Jays. It’s a risk for them as well.

Probably many of you have read or heard that Toronto wants both Happ and Drabek which if true, Amaro should turn a deaf ear to. Why not keep Happ, Drabek and Savery and package three of their top prospects rated behind Drabek and Savery which would probably include Knapp and also offer Donald and either Taylor or Brown? Who is supposed to be the better prospect, Taylor or Brown?

Trading Happ still leaves a hole in the rotation, Rodrigo Lopez is not ultimately the answer a good bandaid but not the solution. No idea what Pedro would do, not a strong answer but addition if he is able to.

Drabek is one of the best pitchers I have seen at that age in some time. Halladay could help us win a world series, but it is not a definite, and Not having him does not mean we can’t repeat. Drabek will be in the rotation next year.

If we are able to get an extension and have Halladay for 3 -4 years that would be great but I am a Phillies fan for life not just the next 2 years. There are NO guarentees in baseball and what are all the fans going to do if we don’t win and we gave up the best prospect since Cole Hamels.

Yeah if the Jays do not move Halladay his value goes down, he would be possibly moved in the offseason and he would only be able to help a team win once before free agency. The Jays have potential serious payrole issues in the next years with Rios, Rolen, Halladay and the god awful Wells contract

Holliday with a nice first debut AB for cards with infield single, steal and a run scored. Happ obviously with some nerves due to the Halladay trade discussions heating up lately. Cards lead 1-0 with the rain delay. Don’t tell me Happ’s maybe last start will be done after only 1.2 IP.

Hey everybody, if you’re looking to kill a minute during the rain delay, I finally started the Phils/baseball blog I’ve had in mind for a while. Two deadline-related posts up today. I hate to be the “read my blog read my blog read my blog” guy, but if you feel like checking it out and leaving a little feedback I’d appreciate it.

First off why would they start this game with a storm coming. Holliday sucks. If its Happ, Drabek, Brown you have to make it. I hate it because I want moyer gone but you have to get the best pitcher in baseball. Happ will not be a superstar. He has a long way to go. We dont know how good he will be.

I agree but what I am saying is I am not sure you make the deal and give up all the farm. Just my thoughts though, I am just a teacher not a Major League Exec, so whatever they do we have to live with it.

I also believe there are other good prospects that can be sent, like Knapp, Taylor I am cool with or Brown, Donald, basically everyone in the system but Drabek, just not all of them LOL

You arm chair GM’s crack me up. Brown is our best prospect. Knapp is our 4th best prospect. Taylor is expendable because he’s blocked right now and 24. Happ is pitching over his head. I’d like to see them trade Happ, Taylor, and 2 other guys like Carrasco and Marson.

I’m not a MLB exec or insider either….but I said a couple of days ago that this trade is gonna cost youse guys thru the nose.Now as a Mets fan either way that deal wouldn’t bother me.If the Phillies pull the trigger with Happ and Drabek in the mix its gonna be more harm in the long run because you don’t know if he wants to touch free agency.Will it get your titles,not guaranteed but it looks good if youse can get passed Mannywood.

Come on Riccardi doesn’t want to make a deal… If he did there would be something realistic being worked on, when a guy asks for your top pitching prospect, a ROY candidate and your top position prospect you know he’s not serious about making a deal.

Yuengling DOES suck.
Don’t the umps have access to the Doppler? OR better yet, Charlie? This may be a drastic break in tradition, but Charlie should have started a reliever and kept Happ for the rain delay. I can’t wait til a manager pulls that stunt.
Durbin would have been my pick, but he is DLed.

4:20pm: The Phillies are “fully determined” to acquire Halladay, while the Dodgers still have a small chance of acquiring him, according to Knobler. As for the Jays, one person involved says “it’s obvious that they have to move him now.”

6:47pm: Speaking on Sirius XM, commissioner Bud Selig said “I was told by somebody with pretty good inside knowledge that they won’t get rid of him,” referring of course to Halladay. He followed that up by saying “Now, whether that’s true or not, I don’t know. And, you know, clubs are going to start bidding it up.”

I can copy and past from mlbtraderumors.com too. All of it means nothing, everyone has a source, everyone has an opinion. None of it matters until its all said and done.

Matt Holliday’s home run numbers have been down since he departed Denver, Colorado which seems to indicate that the thin air out there in Denver in that high altitude helps the ball carry and helped pad his home run totals over the years that he played out there. While he greatly improves the Cardinal lineup, I would venture to think that opposing teams and pitchers consider him fairly manageable when he steps up to the plate. Certainly is not a quality hitter like Pujols. The key is keeping other Cardinals off of the bases when Pujols, Holliday and Ludwick come uo to the plate. Not to the degree that Ryan Howard is but all these Cardinal sluggers are prone to the strikeout.

little guy- i was waiting for your two cents. here are mine. do it. I mean the deadliest sinkerball in the league (great cold weather pitch…like Fenway in Oct), a cutter, slow curve and change-up and also tonight not included but 17 BB….I don’t know but i think he locate all these pitches….what do you think? and he 6’5, 225 lbs. did i leave anything out.

I think this is Bull the Phillies should not play the desperate card, we are not. We have won 15 of 17 our starting pitching has turned the corner we need fresh arms in the pen and some bench help.

Riccardi is a moron, if he gets Amaro to bite with that bs then Amaro is the moron and the Philly will never forgive him in 3 years.

I mean yes Halladay is great, but has zip on the post season experience and who knows he may blow up in the post season like Sabbathia does and ARod does. I like our chemistry, Halladay would be great in the locker room, but that is a lot to give up for ifs

What in the HELL is Bud Selig doing talking about freakin’ trade rumours? Thats is the most assinine thing I’ve ever heard. There’s another moron. I’ve heard it from a reliable source that Bud Selig has no business talking to executives about player movement and then commicating it to the public. God, Wheeler sucks. Imagine if Goodell came out and said “Oh, yeah, well a, I’ve been told McNabb could be moved for two first round picks”

What a great trivia question. Hmmmmm….Cardinals pitcher also played on the Harlem Globetrotters? Uh….lets see. He’s black, right? Nino Espinosa. Oh, he’s spanish. Can you play on the Globies if your spanish? He was kinda black, too, though.

At that all star game a few years back, someone woke Bud up in his seat and told him the game was tied and asked him what they should do. He then took the bull by the horns and firmly declared that the game would be decided on penalty shots. One his flacks pointed out that would be problematic given the rules of baseball so Bud called the game a tie cuz he wanted to get in his car so he could beat the traffic.

In 1957, Gibson received a $3,000 bonus to sign with the Cardinals. He delayed his start with the organization for a year, playing with the Harlem Globetrotters, earning the nickname “Bullet” Bob Gibson (his nickname in baseball was “Hoot”, after Hoot Gibson, the cowboy and silent movie star).

Lee Smith, known as “The Cajun Closer” because he hailed from the State Louisiana, played for the ‘trotters in 1974. He achieved some reknown for purportedly dunking over on Truck Robinson in an exhibition game in Brownsville, Texas. He blew out his knee setting a pick for Curley Neal later that year and thus started his career in baseball.

I hate to say it Little Guy, that this has nothing to do with appeasing players, they are paid a boatload and if they hit the free agent market they are as good as gone if the price is right somewhere else.

Its about what is better for the team now to be successful and continue to be successful

Im seeing mad disinfo. ne guy says hes getting traded within 24 hrs, one says no. selig says he wont ever get traded. one guy says hes going for drabek, donald, taylor, marson – one says happ, drabek, brown (yeah right, the first package i said looks more realistic). MAD disinfo – that means shit is GOING DOWN BABY. it means that halladay will be ours – the only issue now is at what cost (hint: be prepared to be surprised in a good way – is my read)

Ill bet Hallady is traded like tomorrrow or after the games tonight. the jays wanted him to make one last start to say goodbye – because he is an icon in that cit for baseball. after that hell go for a favorable price and hell come here.

also, if hallday came here he would wear no. 33 or 34. ill go with 34.

This is one of the teams we might have to face in the post season and I’m not putting Happ down I mean every pitcher has a bad night but having Halladay in the rotation would make me better about facing them

Feliz looks like he needs to stop fielding slow infield grounders barehanded. Needs to field the ball with his glove which at least would give him the chance to try to throw the batter/runner out. Botching the ball barehanded does not afford a throw.

The Blue Jays and Phillies have made progress toward a deal that would send ace Roy Halladay to Philadelphia, major league sources told FOXSports.com.

Halladay has a no-trade clause, but sources said he would approve a trade to the defending World Series champions.

In conversations between the Phillies and Blue Jays, the sources said, Philadelphia officials have indicated a willingness to include one or more of their best prospects in the deal. Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro hasn’t ruled out any player in the talks, raising the possibility that right-hander Kyle Drabek might ultimately be included.

A deal is not imminent, as evidenced by the fact that Halladay made his start against the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday, as scheduled. But there were strong indications Friday that Toronto GM J.P. Ricciardi is talking more seriously with Philadelphia than any other team. Ricciardi declined comment when approached by reporters Friday afternoon.

The Dodgers and Rangers, who both have spoken with the Blue Jays about Halladay, didn’t have any contact with Ricciardi on Friday. The Yankees initially expressed interest, but Ricciardi has yet to engage them in talks.

One source did indicate that the Angels, who are very involved in the market for pitching, have improved their offer. But it’s doubtful that they could match a package from the Phillies if Amaro is willing to part with Drabek and at least one other premium player, such as left-hander J.A. Happ, or outfielders Dominic Brown or Michael Taylor.

There is a substantially smaller group of scouts in attendance for Halladay’s start Friday at Rogers Centre than were in Toronto on Sunday, when he pitched a complete game against Boston. Many scouts in town during the week — including those representing the Red Sox and Dodgers — have left.

The Phillies, though, still have a representative at the game. And by next week, they may have a new ace.

The Ghost of the 1993 Phillies has returned in the form of the 2009 Phillies. Great off, very entertaining, hardly ever out of a game but not enough pitching(although 09 Phils have a better bp overall).This team has heart break city written all over it. If we lose in the playoffs or God Forbid get caught and passed by ATL because we didn’t get ROY we will be the joke of MLB. Remember the “almost move” to get Randy Johnson in 1993, I had almost forgotten about it until Kruk brought it up the other day. Maybe the “Joe Carter” moment never happens Will the Brass make the same mistake 2x? Boston, Yankees, Phillies? We are currently being held in the same regard as the other 2 ment even though we don’t spend as much. Pass on Holiday that goes away. Those 2 would have him already. Hallady should’ve been pitching for the Phils tonite. Think we win tonite with him? A wasted start.

We’ll never know obviously. To suggest otherwise is done simply out of frustration about tonite’s game or just plain stupidy. I worked at the Vet for 3 summers while in College. 1993, 1994 b4 strike 1995. It got to meet a lot of those players. Morand., Dutch, the Dude, Schilling among others. My job job was to vacuum the red carpet that ran around home plate and the warning track before the players came out for warm ups and batting practice. One day in 1994 I saw Curt Sch and I sad thanks for last season and go win in all this year. I also said I know watching from the dugout had to to have been really hard. He said all we needed was one more pitcher and we win that series in 6 games